facebook's first european data centre in lulea, sweden

photo by andreas nillson
all images © the node pole


social networking utility facebook will build its first european data centre in lulea, sweden, situated close to the arctic circle in 'the node pole'.
the new site will manage and host all european facebook traffic. 'the node pole' is the coldest region in sweden,
and temperatures in this area have not been higher than 30 degrees celsius / 86 degrees fahrenheit for more than 24 hours in total since 1961.
this climate will offer fresh air cooling for the data centre throughout the year.

the facebook establishment is the biggest investment in lulea since the mining and steel industries were founded in the late 1800s.
one of the most geologically, politically and socially stable areas in the world, the location holds a combination of ideal inherent qualities
for data storage. the extremely stable electricity infrastructure of the area will provide natural cooling and renewable hydropower,
making the region a major node for data traffic in europe.

sweden is home to the lowest electricity prices in europe and the country's northern region in particular, including lulea,
has the lowest energy costs. the nearby lulea river (lulea alv) hosts a number of the country's largest hydropower stations.
this waterway generates twice as much electricity power as the hoover dam in the USA, so the power to operate the new data center,
which requires 120 MW, will be 100% derived from hydropower.

coincidentally, the nearest adjacent road to the data center's cite is called 'datavagen' which in english translates to 'the computer road'.
next to the data centre is the lulea university of technology - sweden's first technology university and scandinavia's northernmost university
with 15 000 students. the institution holds several master programs and conducts research and innovation within fields ranging
from distance-spanning technology (CDT), long-term digital preservation (LDP/LDP) to algorithmic engineering
and lower energy consumption of web technology.

fun fact: sweden was acknowledged as having the most computers per capita by IMD world competitivenesss yearbook in 2010.

below are renderings of how the new facebook data centre will develop:

image courtesy of sweco



image courtesy of sweco



image courtesy of sweco



image courtesy of sweco



image courtesy of sweco